The Ringing of the Bells: Lineage
by Ariel4
Summary: During the Tortallan Civil War, one girl may know the key to victory, but she has a huge secret. She gets involved in the overthrow of the palace, all because of the prince who chased her away...
1. Chapter One

The Ringing of the Bells

Lineage

Chapter One:

At the end of autumn in the marketplace of Corus, the capital of Tortall, a man wandered through the crowds, methodically checking every face he saw.  He walked with the precision of a soldier, not bothering to look inconspicuous.  The crowds took no notice of him; everyone was busy with their own transactions. The marketplace was packed this week, because the last of the crops had been harvested, and people were stocking for the bad winter that was rumored to be coming.  The year's crops had been good, and venders were filling their purses with copper nobles.  

The man never faltered until midday, when the sun began to beat down its last warm rays of the year.  He pulled off the cloak he had been wearing to reveal his uniform of maroon and beige, the uniform of the Palace Guard.  He stepped behind a meat-vender's stall, and three more Guards melted out of the shadows to greet him.  The filed out one at a time and turned to stand in a half circle facing him.

"Anything?" he asked them in a low voice.

They all shook their heads negative.  

One pale, perspiring man had the courage to speak out despite orders.  "We'll never find her at the rate we're lookin'.  Why's it our job to look for the blasted wench anyway?  It's unnatural hot for this time of year.  If we'd a had any sense we would've just held up a sign, or had crier announce who we're lookin' for-"  He broke off suddenly when the flat of a blade descended sharply onto his shoulder.  

"You fool," the man with the cloak told him harshly.  "Do you dare go against orders?  Do you know what will happen if the girl is captured?  Her kidnappers could ask ransom - anything they wanted.  And if something happens to her, we will have her brother and their country's army to deal with."  He sheathed his sword slowly again.  "Would anyone else like to speak out?  May I remind you what will happen to those who question orders, especially those that come from the king?"  He gestured towards a dead chicken hanging from the back of the stall.

The only reply he got was a low muttering.  The outspoken man had come back to his senses and was looking properly chastened.  

The Guard pulled three glass spheres out of his cloak, and threw one to each of the other men.  Red fire streaked from his hands to settle into the glass.  He held up his thumb and forefinger to show them his own ball of fire he conjured there.  

"I will expect to know immediately if anyone sees or hears anything.  Ashan, take five men and make sure to check down by the river.  The rest of you continue as you were. Now go."

The men nodded and slipped quietly back into the shadows from where they had come.  The remaining Guard folded his cloak carefully and tucked it into his belt, then set off back down Market Way.  His search continued with increasing urgency as the day wore on and he heard no word of the missing girl.  He held several more whispered conferences with his fellow Guards, each time assigning them likely spots to search, and each time the tensions ran high.  The permanent scowl he always wore deepened and was etched sharply in the shadows of the dying sun, but his good training refused to allow his weariness to show.  Instincts told him this search would continue through the night.

A minstrel sat propped up against an aging building, his legs splayed out in front of him.  To anyone who passed he appeared to be sleeping, but he kept watchful eyes slitted open, never missing anything.  A cloaked Guard wandered around the corner and didn't see him in the dying light.  He tripped over the minstrel's large feet, and muttered curses under his breath at being seen in an act of clumsiness.

"Watch where you put your feet!" he growled.  

"Mithros knows I have to look out for them," the minstrel replied cheerily.  "Soldiers have a habit of tripping over me every time I sit down.  Of course, my feet are quite large."

"Watch your tongue next time too."  The Guard glared a warning look, but all he could see of the man was bright blue eyes underneath a hood.

The minstrel called Immen only saluted him and immediately went back to his feigned sleep.  The Guard appeared to be looking for something, or someone, but apparently he didn't have very good eyes.  Twenty paces away, a girl slept undisturbed on an old pile of straw, wrapped up in a tattered blanket.  Her clothes were odd, and there was something _foreign_ about her.  She had lain undisturbed all evening; in fact, no one had seemed to see her at all.  The Guard was no exception.  He walked right by without a glance, and he never looked back.  Immen noted all of this with interest, then gathered his magic for the first time that day and send it out towards the girl to see what was shielding her. 

 The force of the impact was like hitting a brick wall head on.  His magic _bounced_ back before he could even retrieve it.   He rubbed his aching head with trembling hands.  Never had he encountered anything like it.  The innocent looking girl was shielded by pure, raw, power.  No mortal could command that much power and still live.  He shook his head and walked away, part in awe, part in fear, and part in gratitude that he was still breathing.  The girl would be safe, he knew that for certain.  Whatever protected her was certainly powerful enough.  Yes, she was definitely safe for now. 

A/N - So what do you think? This is a story I will be working on for a long time. Here's a quick summary: About two hundred years after Alanna's time, a princess who hates palace life gets caught up in an overthrow when she accidentally finds her way to the headquarters of renegade knights. The king and queen (they are not her parents) are the first rulers who are not Contés. The girl would rather be a warrior than a princess, but she has one huge secret that gets in her way. 

Please please please tell me what you think; I love criticism. By the way, a lot of people have said it's a bummer that none of the original characters can be in it, but don't worry, there _will_ be some original characters in it, one way or another.


	2. Chapter Two

To all my faithful fans:  You have waited this long and here it is.  If it weren't for you guys I would have just given up after I lost interest, but it seems like people actually want to hear this story. So, thanks so much to everyone who reviewed.  I promise not to slack from now on.

Chapter Two:

The two guards stationed before the royal chamber doors nodded silently and moved aside to let the man with the cloak pass.  He stepped forward and pushed the double doors open without ceremony.  Once inside, he made a left that took him to the king's private sitting room.

The king was seated on a gilded, cushioned, chair, and being served finger sandwiches by one of the Bazhir serving girls.  He looked up while the guard stood respectively in the doorway, then dismissed the girl with a flick of his hand.  Only when she was safely away did the guard bow and enter the room.  

The king sighed.  "Well, Captain, since I do not see a roped and chained girl dragging behind you, and you seem loath to entering my room, I assume you have not found her," he said, his voice, as always, barely concealing his malicious sarcasm.

"I have not, Your Majesty." 

"And you have your full force out on this."  It was a command, not a request.  One of his fingers tapped impatiently against the chair arm, as if he was fighting against letting loose his temper.  It would have scared most other men.

"You know full well I am doing everything in my power to find the Princess before any harm comes to her – or us.  My men have searched all yesterday and all through the night without turning up a single clue.  We did, however, manage to capture one of the escapees from last month's fire.  I believe he was a thief we were holding for questioning.  He's locked up in the barracks."

The king brushed this aside as unimportant.  "Have your men take care of it.  The girl _must_ be found.  You, as Captain of my Guard, know better than anyone of how important it is that no one else realizes she's gone.  If nothing comes up by tomorrow night, then I want you to close down all movement in and out of the city.  Search every home if you have to.  Enlist the help of the Riders.  I want no excuses."

If the captain was surprised he gave no sign of it.  Besides, he was used to the King's tendency to abuse his royal powers of office, even if it meant infringing on private citizen's lives.

"By this time tomorrow she could already have left Corus," he pointed out.

"True, but it will take me that long to figure out a way to get legal permission for searching people's homes."

The Captain nodded.  "We will not fail."

"I hope not.  You are dismissed."

The Captain strode out of the room as a satisfied smile played at the corners of his mouth.  He had sensed the fear hidden beneath all of the king's nonchalance, because the king knew that if he failed his entire kingdom would hear of it.

        *                                *                               *

Outside the palace gates, the city bells began to ring, welcoming the new day as the horizon turned from gray into a rosy pink  A girl heard them and woke with a start, but protested getting up.  The bells were very loud, though, and they echoed in her mind, insistent and demanding, until she sat up with a groan.  Her back ached like she had slept on a rock slab all night, and she could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on.  

She jumped to her feet suddenly, aches and pains seemingly forgotten, and peered at her surroundings with wide eyes.  Apparently the realization that she had woken up in an alley came unexpectedly. She stared at the wall of a building in front of her, trying hard to remember.  

"How…?" she breathed.

Suddenly fear came over her like a bucker of ice water. 

 _She couldn't remember her name.  Or anything else for that matter._

She continued to stare at the shabby buildings that surrounded this dark alleyway for several minutes then walked cautiously to the end of the alley where she could see a row of even shabbier houses.  A shutter banged loudly open, and a screechy voice yelled within a building as the city came awake for the day.  The girl ducked back into the alley.  She was stumped and had no idea what to do next. She was freezing and the only blanket she had was filthy and nearly in shreds.  There were really only two options:  stay here and do nothing; or start walking, and hope answers and luck would come to her along the way.  There was no good reason to stay, so she turned and walked haltingly deeper into the alley.

Her path was long and curved, but revealed none of the answers to her numerous questions.  She found strange gold coins in her pocket, and had the urge to use them to buy breakfast, but knew she couldn't just walk out into public because her clothes, although familiar to her, had drawn several odd stares.  An old cloak was hanging on a line with other clothing.  She took the cloak and left a gold piece on the ground in its place.

Fifteen minutes later, covered in her new-old cloak, she turned left and found herself in a bustling marketplace.  People were everywhere, even at this time of the morning, but thankfully no one spared her a second glance.  The smell of food made her mouth water.

"Rolls!" one red-faced vendor yelled.  "Fresh rolls!"

The girl walked up to him.  "How much?" she asked.

He stared at her from under bushy eyebrows and winked.  "Normally I sell 'em at a high price, seein' as how they're the best in Corus, but I think I could give a pretty girl like yourse'f a discount.  They's two coppers apiece."

"I'll take three," she said, ignoring his flattery.  The size of his stomach was a clear indicator that he himself found his food quite good.

He grinned happily and handed her three rolls in exchange for her six coppers.

"Larny, you old swindler!" a shrewd-looking glass seller yelled as she walked away.  "Yer rolls aren't the best in Corus - or anywhere - and ain't worth a lick o' salt!"

"Shut up, ya old woman!  My rolls are worth a barrel o' your glass shards any day!"

The girl grinned as she walked away.  She didn't mind that she'd been swindled; the rolls _were_ good and did wonders for appeasing her stomach.  The vendor had said _Corus__, a word that was familiar to her and for some reason brought on another wave of fear coupled with apprehension.  _

A large shadow fell across her path, and she looked up into the bright green eyes of a soldier.  They grew round with recognition, and one burly arm shot out to pinion her in a grip that she was not likely to get out of.  Instinctively she tried to pull away, for all the good it did.    

The soldier seemed to be talking into a glass ball full of fire – "…in the marketplace, no she's fine, just a little dirty…"  

He had been looking for _her_?  If she knew him, then why did she have such a strong urge to get away?  

"You're to come with me, Princess Arilyn.  The rest of the guard will be here in a minute to escort you back to the palace."

"Arilyn…that's my name." she said slowly.

 Something in the back of her head fought to erupt, and suddenly she could hold the memories back no longer.  They came back to her in a rush, more than she could handle, and as they flooded through her body a white heat ran down her arm into the grip of the guard.  

He yelped and let go of her.  The white heat was dominating her entire vision, and suddenly she was very, very, tired. 

_Oh yeah, I remember, _she thought faintly.   When she finally lost consciousness and collapsed there was no one there to catch her.  


End file.
